The Tome of Unreachability
by Emara-Lou
Summary: The book was not meant for children. It was not meant for anyone outside the coven. But this generation of the coven was weak and turned evil. So the book escaped...
1. Chapter 1

**The Tome of Unreachability**

Written by Sara and Em Chapter One 

'Do you all like the exhibition?' asked Mr Campbell.

Most of the kids in the year ten history class raised their hands.

'Do you like Christmas?' continued the teacher.

The class was becoming suspicious and so only a few raised their hands.

'Do you like getting presents?' asked Mr Campbell.

Ten hands were raised.

'Good! Because I have something that's just as good!'

Many kids groaned in anticipation of the coming horror…

'An assignment!' Mr Campbell cackled and he circulated around the class with a thick sheaf of paper, distributing the assignment sheets.

'Oh, but sir,' whined Em as she received her paper, 'we only just handed in the last one!'

'Oh, man!' said Sara, flipping the first page of her paper over to find the assignment's due date.

'Well, you'll be in perfect gear to finish this one quickly, won't you, owl-girl?' snickered Mr Campbell in his twisted idea of a joke.

Em grumbled something unintelligible that faintly resembled a few very violent curses. 'Why does he insist on calling me that?'

'You do have owls on your history book,' said Sara helpfully.

'That may be so, but you know what?' Em asked Sara venomously.

Sara smiled wickedly. 'What?'

'Owls _eat_ squirrels!'

'Squirrel, squirrel!' chanted Sara and Em to Mr Campbell's turned back.

'Looks like we can do the assignment together,' said Sara.

'Really?' asked Em in unveiled surprise. 'Geez, Mr Squirrel is loosening up.'

Sara glanced up at the ravaging hordes of her classmates as they crowded and tore at each other in their bid for books on World War Two, the subject of the new assignment.

'Let's just get a book from the public library,' she said.

'Yeah, I'm not going in there,' concurred Em as the piteous cry of _'he **bit** me!'_ permeated the usually still air of the school library.

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'You're cutting it fine, girls,' said the librarian at the public library later that day as Sara and Em walked between the tall barcode sensors guarding the sliding entry doors. 'We close in half and hour.'

'We won't be too long,' said Sara.

'The war books'll be in non-fiction,' said Em, pointing down the left isle of the labyrinthine library.

As soon as the girls entered the ceiling-high corridor of book shelves, an unnatural silence fell upon them, broken only my their quiet breathing.

The silence was unlike that of the every-day stillness of a normal library. It was pressing, like the air in a cave long undisturbed.

'Down here,' said Em, whispering unnecessarily given the complete lack of anybody save Sara to hear her. She lead Sara down the nearest right-hand isle.

The girls stopped in front of a wall of books on World War Two that was easily five metres wide and just as tall.

'There's tons of information here,' said Sara.

Em ran her finger along the row of books closest to her eye-level. _The Second Great War_, _A History of WWII_, _Seven Years of War and More_, _The Tome of Unreachability_, _The_-

'Hey, check this out!' hissed Em, taking down _The Tome of Unreachability_.

Sara leaned over to see while Em scanned the first page.

'Spells! It's a book of magic!'

'This shouldn't be here…' said Sara slowly, looking over all of the war books.

'Wow… This is some funky stuff… We should get this book out!' said Em.

The speaker mounted into the ceiling crackled loudly. _'The library is closing in ten minutes. Please bring your books to the borrowing stations now. Thankyou.'_

Sara and Em glanced at each other. Sara grabbed two war books at random and she followed Em through the confusing maze of voiceless books.

Sara handed the librarian at the borrowing station counter her library card and the three books.

'Doing an assignment on World War Two?' asked the librarian as she scanned the books and card.

'Yeah,' said Sara.

'Well, you should get a lot of information about it from these three.' The librarian handed Sara back her card and Em picked up the books.

'Wait a sec- three?' asked Em while Sara returned her card to her wallet. 'But there are only-'

'Moving on!' said Sara, dragging Em toward and through the sliding glass doors of the library.

'She thought _The Tome_ was a war book!' said Em when she and Sara were out in the open air. Dusk was falling over the city, bringing with it a chill wind.

'So what?' asked Sara. 'Let's just get to your house.'

Em held _The Tome_ reverently and her brow furrowed. 'Uh, Sara?'

'What?'

'Where'd the barcode go?'

--------------------------------------------

Sara and Em skimmed the pages of the war books that Sara had borrowed, vainly trying to find any interesting facts that they could put into their assignment.

After catching the train and arriving in what could only be described as Hicksville, rural suburbia in the middle of nowhere, Sara and Em had walked to Em's house.

'Nobody's home,' Em had assured while fiddling with the lock on the front door. 'Mum's out with whatshisface.'

'Who?'

'The new boyfriend.' The front door had swung open and the girls crossed the dingy threshold of Em's home.

Now, not even an hour later, Em's mind wandered. She surreptitiously fiddled with _The Tome_ as it lay on her lap, her thoughts about as far away from Hitler's Blitz as it was possible to get.

The girls had searched _The Tome's _covers in search of the amazing disappearing barcode to no avail. The face of the book gave no inclination that it had been borrowed from a library and had been read by possibly hundreds of people- given that there was no publishing date or any other dates for the matter of that.

The book wasn't even contacted to protect the dark red leather from the oils and maltreatment of a thousand hands. The front cover was soft and supple- pigskin most likely- with _The Tome of Unreachability _emblazoned upon it in black looping letters below which was a pentacle bordered by a perfect circle. The script was in curly cursive and was almost certainly handwritten; the capital letters at the beginning of each paragraph were embellished with the likenesses of birds and beasts and plants.

Sara had instantly placed all of the strangeness associated with _The Tome_ squarely upon Em's clearly overactive imagination. The barcode had probably fallen off in the library. The librarian was probably hard of sight.

Sara continued, blissfully unaware of the inward struggle taking place within her friend, to peruse facts of a war sixty years passed until…

'I can't take it anymore!'

Em's exercise book fell to the floor as its owner stood up suddenly, kicking her heavy wooden chair back with force.

'I want to try out a spell!'

'They're not spells!' exclaimed Sara.

'Well, the only way to find out if they're real is to try one out,' said Em smugly.

'Fine, then. Shall we try to go to Africa?' asked Sara sarcastically.

'No, let's try the _To Find What is Lost_ spell,' said Em, flicking through _The Tome's _pages.

Sara was quiet.

Em looked up at her friend. 'Aren't you gonna help me?'

'Yeah, I guess,' sighed Sara. 'It's not real.'

Em ignored her. 'It says we need candles, feathers and a bowl. We have all of those.' She dashed off to collect them.

'Don't forget this… _item of sentimental value_,' said Sara, reading a passage from _The Tome_.

Em returned to the lounge room where she and Sara had been studying with a lolly dish, five purple tea candles, a lighter and seven green feathers plucked from an invention she had made in year six.

'It says _place the candles in a V shape- the apex away from you. Inside the inner shape, place the bowl. In the bowl place a paper with the name of the lost item written upon it_.' said Em. 'We don't need the feathers.'

Sara arranged the candles and Em wrote on a strip of paper the name of her lost item.

'Put it in the bowl,' advised Sara and Em put the paper in the dish. 'Where's your item of sentimental value?'

Em pulled a silver locket and chain from the breast pocket of her school uniform blouse. 'Here,' she said simply.

'Where'd you get it?' asked Sara conversationally.

'Mum gave it to me.'

Sara grimaced. Em's mother was infamous for her long tirades and inappropriate punishments.

'But that's not why it's special.'

'Why is it special?' asked Sara quietly.

'There's a part of Mickey in here- the last bit of her I have,' said Em. She ran her thumb across the carvings in the silver tenderly. 'My first muse.'

Sara smiled but knew better than to ask any more. Mickey's demise was laced with tragedy and was to Em a festering wound that had as yet not healed. A year since it happened and only recently had the resulting depression lessened slightly.

Em lit the candles, gripped the locket in her right hand and read aloud from _The Tome_:

'Silver trinket, wooden shoe 

_Stolen or lost, I come to you_

_What once was mine, be mine again_

_To appease my mind and inner pain'_

There was a moment of expectant suspense.

Sara blew out her breath aggressively. 'See? It's all-'

**POOF!** Clouds of white billowed from the lolly dish, dousing the candles.

Sara and Em gazed in awe at the dissipating vapour. When it had completely cleared, Em picked up her lost object and held it tightly, her eyes unusually moist.

'What is it?' breathed Sara.

'It's Lee,' replied Em, showing the doll to Sara. 'She's the one thing Dad got me that I didn't pick out.'

Lee was a slightly grubby Cabbage Patch Kid baby in a hooded purple jumper suit.

Sara reached out to touch Lee's soft hand as if to make certain that she was truly real. 'Wow.'

'Thought you said it wasn't real,' said Em snidely.

'I do now.'

'We should have a celebration feast!' cried Em, setting Lee down on the coffee table.

Sara blinked. 'To celebrate what?'

'That magic is real and we used it! I'll see what Mum left out for us- she said she'd take care of our dinner before she left with… thingo,' said Em. 'I'll put on the telly for background noise.'

As soon as the television set glowed into life, it was clear that finding a program that was halfway interesting would be as difficult as finding a single, straight guy at a Backstreet Boys concert.

'Oh, jeez,' sighed Em. 'One Piece?'

Sara nodded. 'One Piece.'

Em fitted a videotape that contained nearly three hours of One Piece taped from Toasted TV and pressed play.

As the announcer's voice came on, Sara seated herself on Em's L shaped lounge and Em vanished into the kitchen.

Halfway through the One Piece theme song there was a crash and Em stalked into the lounge room.

'Mum took all the junkfood to whatshisface's! And she hasn't made us anything!'

'It's okay, Em,' soothed Sara. 'We can get pizza.'

There was a cold silence.

'She didn't leave us any money,' said Em.

There was another pause, broken only by:

'Usopp's doin' that marksman thing 

_While Sanji's cookin' for the would-be king!'_

Sara inhaled a sharp breath, an idea forming in her mind. 'I know what we could do!' She quickly told Em her plan.

'With _The Tome_?' asked Em, excitement creeping into her voice. 'Can we do that?'

Sara turned to the _to Summon a Spectre_ page in _The Tome of Unreachability_. 'We should be able to. Let's try it!'

Em grinned and helped Sara arrange the candles from tallest to shortest from west to east. Sara put the dish next to the tallest candle. Em dumped the feathers into the dish and scribbled a name on a scrap of paper, which followed the bright green and glittery down (she had been an extremely colourful child in year six).

Sara lit the candles and undid the gold chain around her throat.

'Your mum's ring?' asked Em as Sara held the engagement band in her right hand.

'Yep. There's not much closer to me than this,' said Sara.

Em held her locket and she and Sara recited together the spell to summon a spectre:

'Heart to heart, I summon thee 

_Cast this spell to set thee free_

_Soul to soul, hand to hand_

_Divided, now shall cross the land'_

A short pause… and **POOF!**

The bowl spewed forth a blue cloud, choking out the candles and reaching to the ends of the room. It was much bigger than the white cloud from the _To Find What is Lost_ spell had been.

Sara and Em held their breath as from within the blue haze a shadow took form…

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A/N disclaimer- the Authoresses in no way, shape or form own One Piece or the One Piece theme song. We do, on the other hand, own _The Tome of Unreachability_. Please review or we will take no more interest in this story. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two 

As he stepped from the blue cloud, the visitor looked around in confusion.

_How'd I get here?_ he thought.

His eyes, beneath slightly weird eyebrows, registered finally the two girls standing before him, staring at him as avidly as if he were some new kind of chocolate that wouldn't run out.

Both were in the same school uniform, though the shorter had loosened her tie so it hung lose around her neck. Both also held something in their right hands but that was where the similarities ended.

The shorter had red-brown hair that waved as it descended down her back and her eyes were and intense blue.

The taller had a sheet of dark chestnut tresses that was pulled back in a plait with green ribbon tied at the top and end. Her eyes were hazel with flecks of green.

_Least they haven't tried to cut my head off yet_, thought the stranger. _Then again, it doesn't look as though they could._

'Sanji,' said the blue eyes girl quietly.

'That's me,' said the visitor.

'It worked!' giggled the girl with the plait. 'Hey Sanji, I'm Em.'

'I'm Sara', said the other.

'It's indeed a pleasure to make the acquaintances of two ladies as lovely as yourselves,' said Sanji in his customary drawl, fishing a lollipop from his suit's inner pocket, flicking off the wrapper, inserting the sweet into his mouth and returning the wrapper to his pocket.

The girls blushed.

'It's nice to meet you, Sanji,' said Em sweetly. 'Your cooking skills are famous and we just wanted to tell you that.'

Sanji smoothed back a stray blonde hair and grinned. 'I am a pretty good chef.'

Sara jumped on Em's wavelength immediately. 'Yeah. Tales of your deserts have travelled far and wide.'

Sanji tried to appear nonchalant. 'I'm famous?'

'Yup,' said Em.

'But you know,' said Sara slyly, 'fame often exaggerates.'

'Oh, yes,' said Em.

'You mightn't be such a good cook,' continued Sara, her eyes downcast in mock disappointment.

Sanji's face fell. 'But I am!'

'You say that,' mumbled Em, driving the stake home. 'Maybe we should summon another cook…'

'No, I am a good cook!' cried Sanji. 'I'll prove it!'

'Great!' said Em cheerily. 'The kitchen's this way.' She pushed Sanji out of the living room. Sara followed, stifling a laugh.

'What delicious plate shall I make for you beautiful ladies?' asked Sanji as he shed his jacket and draped it over a chair.

'Something sweet,' supplied Sara.

Sanji nodded and in a flash he was whipping up a few eggs and whatever else he could locate in Em's cupboards.

Sara and Em were swept up in the glamour of Sanji's cooking. He made it a performance, almost a dance. The girls were quite sorry when he dished up two bowls full of the most scrumptious looking food they had ever seen.

Sanji, proving that he was the perfect specimen of the male species, went and did the dishes.

Sara and Em giggled girlishly and gently took a spoonful of their feather light deserts.

Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, so surprised they were that such a heavenly taste could exist.

'Mmm!' they chorused.

Sanji leaned his head around the doorway from the kitchen and smiled knowingly at their reactions.

Too soon, the desert was gone and Sara and Em were left trying in vain to pick up the residue with their spoons.

Sanji walked out in front of them, his hands behind his back.

'I think that that has proved to us that you are a fantastic chef,' said Sara.

'What a fantastic celebration feast,' sighed Em.

'Just glad to be of service,' said Sanji, bowing.

'You should cook for every girl,' said Em. 'They'd all fall in love with you.'

Sanji's eyes shone. 'Really?'

'Sure. The way to a girl's heart is through her stomach!'

Sara laughed.

'But I have lots of girlfriends already,' lied Sanji.

Em's brow furrowed. 'Truly?'

'Yup,' said Sanji. 'I'm the captain of a huge pirate ship the size of a cruise liner.'

Sara and Em glanced at each other.

Sanji put his hands round his head. 'A loyal crew of a thousand sailors work my ship. And when I'm not busy sailing the open sea, I like to go relax on my private island.'

'Oooh,' said Em kittenishly.

'It's a pity you have so many girlfriends,' said Sara.

'Why's that?' asked Sanji.

'Coz since you have so many, you must not have the time for the two of us…'

Sanji turned red. 'Of course I have time for you!'

'Does that mean that if we were in your world we could go to your private island?' asked Em innocently.

'Hey, sure, ladies,' said Sanji. 'But since we're not in my world, we can't visit.'

'Ah,' said Sara while Em giggled evilly, 'but we can.'

Sanji went chalk white. 'Y-you can?'

'Uh, huh,' said Em. 'We're powerful sorceresses- how did you think we brought you here?'

'Uh…' stuttered Sanji.

'C'mon then,' said Sara, 'let's go!'

Sanji collapsed into a seat and watched as Em read Sara the instructions of the spell to travel to a different plane from _The Tome of Unreachability_:

'_Place the candles in a pentacle. Stand inside the pentacle. Hold the bowl in both hands. Place the object of value in the bowl as well as the written name of your destination. Heap the feathers by the northern candle of the pentacle. Light the candles._'

Sara did as Em instructed.

'C'mon, Sanji,' said Sara when she had finished. 'Stand inside the candles with us.'

Sanji reluctantly stood inside the pentacle with the girls. Em held the bowl out to him.

'Just stick your lollipop in here for a minute.'

Sanji put his sweet in the bowl with Sara's ring and Em's locket.

'Can we do this together?' hissed Em to Sara.

'I think so...' said Sara hesitantly. To Sanji, she said, 'Just say the spell with us.' She held out _The Tome_.

'Travel, travel, find a place 

_To rest my legs and warm my face_

_A land to which I can belong_

_A peaceful land, a heart's simple song'_

The customary moment of nothingness before the reaction and... 

**POOF! **Green vapour exploded from the bowl, blowing out the candles and enveloping Sara, Sanji and Em.

They each felt the sickening sensation of riding _The Lethal Weapon_ vertically while it snowed and then they felt firm land beneath their feet.

'That... was so cool,' said Em.

They had all arrived in a citrus orchard with the lolly bowl and _The Tome of Unreachability_.

Sanji stuck his lollipop back in his mouth. 'This is just where I was when I left.'

'This is Belle Mere's orchard!' said Em excitedly.

'So her house must be near,' said Sara.

'We should go meet up with the crew,' said Sanji.

'Yes, we should go meet your loyal crew of one thousand sailors,' scoffed Sara and Em laughed.

Sanji blushed but he lead the girls through the orchard of orange fruit to the roadside where Luffy, Zolo, Usopp and a few other people were sitting and waiting.

Zolo stood up as they arrived and glowered at Sanji. 'Where have you been?'

'I was... uh...' Sanji began to explain his whereabouts but was distracted when Sara and Em simultaneously sighed and leant against each other in identical swoons, staring at Zolo with stars in their eyes.

Zolo gave them a cursory glance, nothing more. 'And who are these two?' asked Zolo gruffly. 'We don't need any more hangers-on.'

'Never mind about them,' said Usopp, thoroughly offeding both Sara and Em. 'Tell Sanji what's happened.'

'Or, rather, what hasn't happened,' said Luffy.

'Nami hasn't returned from Arlong's base,' said Zolo grimly. 'And a Navy ship has been spotted off the island.'

'But wouldn't Arlong have sunk that one like he did the first?' asked Sanji.

'No,' said Usopp. 'They went right around the whirlpool the first ship went into, just like they'd been _warned _about it!'

'Oh! Oh! That's the ship with the rat-guy in!' said Em to Sara. 'He wants to find the berries that Nami's been saving to...' she slowed and stopped her explanation when she noticed that everyone was staring at her. 'Uh, hi, I'm Em.'

'How do you know who's on that ship?' asked Luffy.

Zolo's hand went to the sword he wore at his hip. 'You wouldn't, unless you were sent by them!'

'No!' cried Sara. 'I'm Sara, that's Em and Sanji can vouch for us!'

Sanji shrugged. 'They're not from the Navy.

'It wouldn't be the first time you've fallen for a quick line from a pretty face,' snarled Zolo.

Sara and Em sighed again and giggled.

'He said we're pretty,' said Em wistfully.

'So,' Luffy said, 'What do you know about the Navy ship?'

'Well, there's the captain rat-guy and he's got a deal with...' began Sara.

'Arlong,' supplied Em. 'If he finds the hundred million berries that Nami's been saving to ransom this island, he'll give it to Arlong and get thirty per cent of it to keep.'

'Arlong found a way to break his word to Nami,' said Sara sadly.

'When they find the money in the fruit orchard near Belle Mere's, Nami will have to start again,' finished Em.

'He'll never let her go,' said Sara.

'Do you ever get tired of finishing each other's sentences?' asked Luffy.

Sara and Em exchanged glances.

'It doesn't happen too often,' said Sara.

'How do you know all this?' asked Sanji.

'Uh...' said Sara.

'Gum Gum Fruit!' said Em. 'We ate some that gives us the power to see the future.'

'Really?' asked Ussop.

'Yup,' said Em. 'But we saw this future a while ago so where a little fuzzy on the details.'

'Good save,' whispered Sara.

'Thanks.'

'So what do we do?' asked Sanji.

'We go into Arlong's base and bring Nami out,' suggested Zolo.

'Will you take the townspeople?' asked Em absently.

'Why would we?' asked Usopp.

'Coz they're gonna go anyway,' said Em.

'We should go see if she's right,' said Sanji.

Everyone agreed with this plan and the little band walked down the road in the direction of the town. They stopped and watched from the bushes lining the road when they saw the townspeople surging down the road in a huge cluster.

'The Navy's here,' said Sara.

'They'll go straight to the orchard,' said Em. 'Nami's inside the house!'

'We have to help her!' cried Luffy.

'_No!_' cried Sara.

'It would change everything!' exclaimed Em.

'We can't do nothing!' said Zolo.

'Yes, you can!' said Sara heatedly. 'You must not fight the Navy in taht orchard! They'll kill you!'

'Not me,' said Luffy.

'Maybe not,' said Em quietly. 'But you would be the only one. And when they overrun you, chain you up and drown you, you'll know that you're the last of your crew, Monkey D Luffy.'

Everyone was silent, letting the words sink in.

'Nami will come here,' said Em.

'When?' asked Usopp.

'When the townspeople decide to fight,' said Sara. 'She'll need you the most then.'

By now, the townsfolk had long passed the bushes behind which the pirates and Sara and Em had concealed themselves. But it wasn't long before they returned. They were shouting about taking Arlong down, once and for all and fighting for themselves.

Then Nami appeared. 'You guys don't have to fight,' she said. 'I'll just get another twenty million berries. It'll be easier this time.'

But the townspeople had had enough of timidity. They paid no heed whatsoever to Nami's threats and pleadings and simply ran past her when she pulled out her knife.

When the townsfolk had reduced to a cloud of dust down the road and Nami had collapsed in the dirt, Luffy went out to help her.

'Let's leave then to it,' said Sara and the group receded into the forest.

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Please review for us ;P flames will be used to cook my marshmellows.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three 

'The townspeople won't be able to defeat Arlong on their own,' said Sara.

They, along with Zolo, Sanji, Usopp and other assorted hangers-on, were sitting in a glade, waiting for thier time to strike Arlong's pirates.

'It just occurred to me,' said Em, 'that we never asked to be in this dispute.'

Sara shrugged her shoulders.

Em cocked her head and started to leaf through _The Tome of Unreachability_. 'Meh. Oh, hey! We could try the spell to control the elements!'

'Cool!' said Sara and she turned to the men around them. 'D'you guys have any feathers? We need six.'

The crew shook their heads and so Sara and Em searched for feathers. They found what they needed in the lining of a thrush's nest.

'I don't think there's any point in asking anybody for a candle,' said Em.

'We could hold burning torches,' suggested Sara.

'We can try,' said Em.

The girls could only find one torch so they decided to share it. They arranged two feathers at each of the four points of the compass and sat knee to knee in the centre of the feathers. They put their items of sentimental value in the bowl that they still carried and balanced it between them.

As Em lit the torch with a flint given to her by Usopp, the rest of the gathering became curious and made a ring around the feathers.

'What are you doing?' asked Zolo.

'We're calling on the elementals,' said Sara.

'Yeah, so shut your hole,' said Em, who was tired of the filthy looks Zolo was giving her and Sara. It was obvious that he didn't trust them. 'We need to concentrate.'

Zolo grumbled.

Sara reached out and grabbed a hold of the torch so that both she and Em were holding it and they both chanted form _The Tome_:

'Element of North, enter my right Element of East, join my fight 

_Element of South, wash away_

_Element of West, forever stay'_

The pause following the spell was filled only with the expectant and fearful breaths of the crew.

**POOF!**

Blue, green, red and white coloured cloud twined together as they whooshed from the bowl.

Sara and Em hardly dared breathe as the cyclone of brightness gushed around them, whipping up their hair and clothes.

Abruptly, the cloud split into its separate colours once more. The white cloud broke away first and wrapped itself around Sara's right arm. The blue followed the white's course but it coiled round Sara's left arm.

Em gasped as the red stream twisted itself up her right arm.

The last cloud, the green, swirled around the girls alone for a moment before meandering up Em's left arm.

The coloured streams glowed vividly for a few more seconds then sank into Sara's and Em's skin.

'Mad...' whispered Em faintly.

Sara nodded her agreement.

Em let go of the torch, which had been blown out by the vortex of cloud, and looked over her right arm. 'Whoa, check it out!' she cried as she looked at the bottom of her wrist.

Sara chucked the torch away and leant over to look and there, stark against the white skin of Em's underarm, was a livid black tattoo. It resembled flames licking at their surroundings.

On Em's left hand was another small tattoo in the shape of a rose and on both of Sara's wrists were tattoos also.

'Wicked! The right one is a cloud and the left one is a wave!' said Sara.

Sara and Em stood up and looked for the Straw Hat Pirates whom had not made a noise since the beginning of the spell.

They had backed away from the girls and were keeping their distances.

'What's wrong with you guys?' Sara asked.

'Yeah, what's u- _Oh my God!_' cried Em as a flying fireball forced the crew to duck as it shot towards their heads. She had waved her hand while she spoke and had accidentally triggered a flame to burst from her right hand. 'Sorry!'

'That's fine,' said Usopp. 'Just blow us up!'

I said I was sorry!' said Em prissily. 'Besides, it's a great new story for you to tell that sick chick.'

'The one who lives in the mansion in his home town?' asked Sara.

'Yeah.'

Sara looked thoughtfully at the smouldering bushes that the crew were edging away from. She put her left hand out in front of her and though _Water_.

Nothing happened.

'It's not working!' she cried.

'Oh, don't worry, it's- hah!' exclaimed Em as she poked Sara in the ribs.

Sara shrieked and waved her hand. Water suddenly cascaded from her fingertips- all over Em.

Em blinked the water out of her eyes and blew some out of her mouth. 'You were thinking too much.'

Sara giggled, then laughed.

Em sighed and squeezed her sopping school skirt over the burning bushes and realised that most of the crew were laughing at her. She glared angrily and a ball of fire appeared in her right palm.

The crew stopped laughing. So did Sara.

Then the fire puffed out into smoke, neutralised by the water all over Em. She shook her hand a little and laughed.

It was contagious.

When Luffy came back to get his crew, this was how he found them.

'What're you laughing at?' he asked.

Everyone pointed to Em, who shrugged.

'Well, we need to go fight Arlong,' said Luffy.

The crew immediately snapped to attention.

Sara snorted. 'Way to stamp out the fun.'

Luffy rubbed his nose. 'The townspeople are already fighting and when they lose we'll step in.'

The crew shouted their wordless approval and punched the air.

'We can help,' said Sara.

'No you can't,' said Zolo. 'You aren't pirates.'

Em stamped her foot childishly. 'I hate being fifteen and a girl! Nobody takes me seriously!'

'And we have powers!' said Sara.

'But you can't use them,' scoffed Usopp.

Sara and Em grumbled angrily.

'You're not coming and that's final,' said Zolo.

'Sorry girls,' said Sanji and the Straw Hat crew left the two girls alone in the clearing.

'He's the one who'll be sorry when he gets thrown through that stone wall,' said Em scathingly.

'Let's follow them to Alrong Park,' said Sara rebelliously.

Em brushed her wet hair back. 'Well it's not like we can get home?'

'What do you mean?' asked Sara.

'No candles.'

0o0o0o0

'Gyaar!' cried Kurobi as he punched Sanji through the wall of Arlong Park.

'Told you he'd be sorry,' hissed Em. She and Sara were crouched in the bushes with _The Tome of Unreachability_and the lolly dish.

'Will we go in yet?' asked Sara.

'Wait for Sanji to distract them,' said Em. 'Then we can go for Arlong.'

A few savvy remarks later and Sanji was back inside the compund. Sara and Em crept through the hole in the wall that Sanji had made and slowly edged toward Arlong.

'Arlong! Look! Some pumans are creeping up on you!' cried Hatchi, the Merman with huge lips and more than enough arms who was duelling Zolo.

The girls froze in place.

'Eeep,' squeaked Em fearfully.

Arlong grinned down at them and a pirate with a dorsal fin sticking out of his forehead grabbed them from behind.

Sara screamed and flailed and suddenly the only thing holding her and Em was a block of ice.

Em yanked herself free of the Merman's frozen webbed fingers. 'Cool, literally. Wind plus water equals ice.'

Sara looked at her hands. They were still expelling a miniscule amount of chilled air. She tapped the glassy surface of the newly created iceberg. 'Fishsicle, anyone?'

Sara and Em looked at Arlong and twin evil smiles appeared on their faces.

'Oh, swordfish suprise, please,' said Em.

'Stop the pumans!' shouted Arlong.

Five more Mermen ran up to the girls.

Sara stood stock-still.

Em backed up a step but tripped upon the uneven ground. She scrabbled amongst the rubble with her fingers for a smooth place to push herself up from when a shadow fell over her. She looked up to see a grey Merman reaching for her plait and her right arm shot up to block him...

The Merman screeched as he was borne into the air. He was caught between the branches of a giant redwood tree, which was growing taller by tens of metres per second.

Em's left hand was glowing. She sprang to her feet and addressed the four remaining Mermen as they gazed in awe and fear up at their comrade:

'You want some? You want some of me?'

The Mermen glanced at each other and ran away, thrashing their arms and screaming like children.

Sara slapped Em high five. 'Cool, earth.'

'Let's go get Ar- hey! Where'd he go?' exclaimed Em.

Arlong had sneaked down by the pool to make his escape whilst his Mermen were busy either running away from the two female teens that suddenly seemed dangerous or being filleted by the Straw Hat crew.

'Ow!' cried Sara abruptly.

'What?' asked Em. 'Ow!' She rubbed the back of her head where something had impacted.

'It's that fin-face!' said Sara, pointing to the top of Em's tree.

The Merman trapped up in the tree branches was pelting pinecones at the girls.

Sara gestured at him with her right hand and from it a gust of wind twisted around the unfortunate pirate and blew him out of the tree. He landed, face first, on Arlong.

Sara and Em cracked up laughing.

'Hey, dude, your hand's glowing!' said Sara, pointing to the hand Em had on her head.

'Dude!' said Em in awe. 'My head doesn't hurt anymore!'

Sara felt the place where Em had been hit with the pinecone. There wasn't even a bump. 'You healed yourself!'

'Cool! I'll do you!' said Em and she placed her hand on Sara's scalp.

Arlong shoved his underling off him. 'Gerroff me, you loafing imbecile!'

Em couldn't control her bubbling mirth and by the time she could once again breathe normally, Sara's head was better than new.

Genzo, the sheriff of Coco village, strode up to Arlong, having successfully rescued Luffy, and handcuffed him.

'This isn't how it went, is it?' asked Sara.

Em shook her head.

'We should go home,' said Sara.

There was a loud, pained groan from behind them and they spun around. Sanji was supporting Zolo, whose face was contorted in agony.

'Someone help!' shouted Sanji.

'You can help, Em,' said Sara.

The blood drained from Em's face. 'No, I can't. Healing a bump on the noggin is one thing, but healing katana wounds? I don't think so! We don't even know how I can heal things!'

'You probably do it by fixing the living stuff, since you control earth, but that isn't the point,' said Sara. 'The point is, _he could die_!'

'Someone else heals him!'

'Maybe they're not here this time!'

Em's lip quivered. 'But what if it doesn't work? I don't want Zolo's blood on my hands,' she said softly.

Sara hugged her. 'It will work, but I'm not sure about the bloody hands part- you may need to have contact with what you're healing.'

Sara and Em pushed through the crowd that had congregated around Zolo's form.

'What are you doin' here?' asked Sanji, who was looking a bit worse for the wear himself.

'We think I can help,' said Em.

Sara knelt and propped Zolo's head on her lap.

Em sat next to him and took off his tattered shirt. 'I think i need to have contact with the injury,' she said and she carefully stripped off Zolo's bandages.

With Zolo's every moan of pain, Em gave an empathic wince.

And then his wounds were laid bare. The slashes were cavenous rents marring Zolo's tanned chest. Fresh, thick blood coated him like a vest and still more bubbled forth.

Em whimpered, her eyes shining with silver tears and placed her shaking hands, palms flat, on Zolo's bloody chest.

He hissed in pain at the contact while Em tried to figure out how to heal him.

_I can't do it._ It was her despairing thought as one of her tears fell into one of the rents in Zolo's skin.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Em- We finally got a review! Granted its from someone who Sara had to beg to read the story, but we'll take it! Well, thanks. And I'd like to say that in the first chapter…. Yeah, those were actual quotes from mr Campbell. And any of the crazy stuff Sar and Em do? Yeah, probably based on the real thing. Either that or exactly like it… oh, dear…

**Chapter Four**

Sara sensed Em's despair. 'Em, what was _the Veronicas_ concert like?'

'Well,' sniffled Em, 'we sat on Lisa's side of the stands, but Jess's side was the loudest. They sang my favourite song and they sang _Faded_ by Kate whoever because they co-wrote it together...'

Em's words faltered as light glowed underneath her left fingertips. Zolo's skin knitted together and the veins met.

Em started to haze out...

Sara ran her hand over Zolo's brow comfortingly. Someone went for a bowl of water to wash the blood off Zolo's chest. Someone else lifted Em up to her feet by the underarms and led her over to Arlong's pool. They helped her wash her hands. They spoke to Em but to her it was like a speaker had been switched off.

Sanji tried again. 'Em, are you okay?'

Then Sara appeared. She said no words but gave Em a hug.

Zolo walked unaided up to the three by the pool, pulling on his shirt as he went. 'Thankyou,' he said to Em.

She seemed not to comprehend his words but broke away from Sara and gave Zolo a hug.

Zolo wasn't sure what he should do so settled for gingerly returning the hug.

When Em let go, her eyes were unglazed. 'Let's go home, dude,' she said to Sara.

Sara smiled. 'Let's jet!'

The two retrieved the lolly bowl and _The Tome of Unreachability _from the clump of bushes where they had hidden them. The crewmates found them five candles and seven feathers. The girls arranged the candles in a pentacle shape.

They each went up to Sanji, kissed him on the cheek and hugged him.

'You're welcome at my place anytime,' said Em.

The girls hugged the other members of the Straw Hat crew, including those members whose names they had forgotten or never knew.

Zolo took out his bandana and tied it around Em's wrist. Her bottom lip trembled again but she resolutely turned away and clicked her thumb as though she were trying to light an invisible butane lighter. One, two, three clicks and a lick of flame burned from her thumb. With this Em went around and lit the candles.

As per _The Tome's _instruction, Sara placed the feathers at the southern point of the pentacle.

Then she and Em stood in the pentacle with _The Tome_ and each held the bowl in which they'd placed the locket and the ring. Together, they recited;

'_The home I sought was ever there_

_The land of home, hearth and care_

_Return me to the beginning place_

_To rest my head and warm my face.'_

**POOF!**

Red clouds enveloped the girls and when the crowd of pirates and villagers looked again, all they found were five candles and seven feathers.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Sara and Em reappeared in Em's living room inside their first pentacle.

'That was awesome!' said Sara.

'You can talk, you didn't have to touch Zolo's blood!' said Em.

'You can't be squeamish about blood,' accused Sara.

'Anyone else's blood, yeah!'

Sara flumped onto the lounge. 'I'm bushed.'

Em gave a short laugh and fingered the bandana on her wrist. 'One Piece is still on.' She sat down beside Sara to watch.

'Hey, Sara,' asked Em after a while, 'do redwood trees have pinecones?'

0o0o0o0o0o0

'Where is it, Baraka?' asked the voice that was cold as snow.

'I do not know, Master,' said Baraka.

'Then find out,' said the Master.

'Yes, Master.'

0o0o0o0o0

Sara and Em sat on a bench at their school. It was second break and almost time for class. It was the Friday following their escapade into the world of One Piece. They had realised that for all the hours they spent in Coco village, not even a minute had passed at home.

A group of boys walked past them and wolf-whistled.

Em played with the bandana that she now always wore on her wrist. 'Don't you get tired of that attention?'

Sara shoved Em playfully. 'They were whistling at you too.'

'As if.'

'Uh, yeah. Ever since your face cleared up you're a-' Sara made 'bunny ears' with her fingers -' hot babe.'

Em shoved Sara back. But it was true; Em's face had been cleared of whatever small amount of acne she'd had almost overnight. She suspected her healing powers of working overtime, but she wasn't ungrateful for it.

'Hey, you wanna come over again?' she asked Sara. 'Mum's going out with Whatsit.'

'Oh, Whatshisface?' asked Sara.

'Nah, a new one.'

'Sure I'll come over.'

The bell rang for class and the two girls parted ways. Their school was a sprawling mass of buildings, with even its own farm.

To Em, it was a prison in which she was incarcerated every weekday. To Sara, it looked slightly better, since she was welcome amongst the popular.

While Sara walked to class, she met up with Wade, a guy who did not class himself as anything, but that didn't stop passers-by from hissing 'Emo' at him. They started an easy-going conversation about _My Chemical Romance_, a band both of them admired- one slightly more than the other.

Sara, as was her custom, straightened the patch of crimson in Wade's dyed black hair. And Wade, as was _his_ custom, sank with teeth into her arm.

Em's sojourn to class wasn't nearly so enjoyable. She endured vicious taunts on the way to her room from those people who thought her not quite up to scratch on the 'human' quota.

By the time she crossed the threshold of her extension science class she was so angry that she struck her forehead against her desk several times.

'You'll scramble your brains if you keep doing that,' said Zack, the emotionless meathead.

'Zack, not in the mood.'

'You can't-' declared Zack knowingly before Em cut him off:

'Zack!' Em looked up, her eyes blazing. 'Shut your face or I'll scalp you with the point of my compass!'

Zack quietened. He had too often felt the sting of Em's compass.

0o0o0o0o0o0

After school and a quick stop at Sara's house to pack an overnight bag, they went to Em's.

'Let's raid the fridge. We have ice cream,' said Em dully.

Sara got out two spoons and Em got the ice cream.

'Did something happen at school?' asked Sara.

'No! Nothing happened!' cried Em defensively.

Sara watched Em crack the seal off the ice cream, sit on the lounge and shovel the desert into her mouth. 'Where's _The Tome_?'

Em glanced up. 'Uh?' She swallowed. 'With my diaries.'

Sara sat down and took a bit of ice cream. 'Go get it please.'

Em stuck her spoon in her mouth and stalked off to her room.

Sara ate some more ice cream. _If a spell won't cheer her up, nothing will. Someone at school must have upset her. Maybe it was Carly._.. she thought.

Em came back with _The Tome of Unreachability_ tucked under her arm. She gave it to Sara and sat back down.

Sara leafed through the pages thoughtfully while Em went back to eating ice cream like tomorrow brought the end of it all, stabbing her spoon into the iced desert as though it was someone's flesh.

'Hey,' exclaimed Sara. 'Why don't we summon someone?'

Em grunted.

'What is up with you?' asked Sara.

'Nothing, geez!' said Em.

'There is something wrong!'

'_THERE'S NOTHING WRONG!_' Em grabbed _The Tome_ from Sara and stood up. '_SO LET'S SUMMON SOMEONE ALREADY!_'

'You choose,' said Sara.

'Let's summon Akito,' said Em.

'Akito? From Fruits Basket?'

'Yeah. Why not? He's hot and he can blind all those stupid mongrels at school,' said Em, not quite sarcastically.

'Uh, maybe not,' said Sara. 'Anyone else?'

Em sighed. 'Nah. You choose.'

'Fine, Sesshy it is.'

Em grinned.

Soon the ritual was prepared. The girls read out the spell with their items of sentimental value in their hands:

'_Heart to heart, I summon thee_

_Cast this spell to set thee free_

_Soul to soul, hand to hand_

_Divided, now shall cross the land.'_

**POOF!**

As it had with Sanji, blue cloud rose from the lolly bowl. It rose higher and higher. Then it cleaved cleanly into two.

Lord Sesshomaru cast away the last remaining streams of blue with his long taloned hands.

Sara's breath caught in her throat. _Sesshomaru_... Sara had always held a bright torch for the well-spoken dog-demon. Her fingers itched to weave themselves into his rich silver hair.

Em put her locket back into her pocket.

The Lord seemed to have time only for Sara, hardly casting Em a glance. 'You,' he spat at her with venom.

The girls suddenly got very scared.

_Uh, oh_, thought Sara. _Hostility is not a good sign..._

_A demon in the house_, thought Em witheringly. _And a pissed off demon at that... why did I agree to this?_ She edged slowly towards the front door.

'My enemy,' hissed Sesshomaru, 'did I not teach you a proper lesson before? The Princess Sara will no longer be your pawn!' With these last words, the demon leapt at Sara.

Sara's blood turned to ice and then thawed in a matter of seconds as she sprinted away from her love.

'Coward! You flee from me!' boomed Sesshomaru, his fingers glowing with the power of his poison whip.

'I'm not a princess!' cried Sara, her eyes flowing over with tears of fear as she ran through Em's house. It was useless to run from a demon- they ran faster and could last longer than any human.

As Sesshomaru extended his fingers to grasp Sara's hair, Em ran up to him.

'Haiiah!' she cried as she brought the umbrella she had collected from the stand near the front door down on Sesshomaru's head.

Sesshomaru turned and glared at Em. 'And what was that feeble attack supposed to do?'

'Distract you. Freeze, Sara!' shouted Em.

Sara waved her hands and, for the first time since the fight in Arlong Park, used the power to freeze.

Sesshomaru was encased in a prison of solid ice.

Sara breathed out heavily. 'Thanks, Em.'

Em threw her umbrella down. 'Okay, you're the InuYasha freak. Why does he want to kill you? It seems beneath him to attack randomly.'

'It is. He...' Sara sat in Em's swivel computer chair. 'He thinks I'm the demon that took over Princess Sara's body.'

'Princess Sara? You told me about her, wasn't she in the episode _The Woman Who Loved Sesshomaru_?' asked Em.

'Yeah... Maybe I look like her.' Sara played with a lock of her hair. 'But he's so angry.'

Em looked at the demon. His face was arrogant and it was clear that he thought he had nothing left to lose.

'If we don't melt him soon, he'll probably die.' She put her right hand flat against the ice near Sesshomaru's face. Her fingers glowed with the power of fire and water trickled away down the ice as the heat from her hand melted it.

'But... what if he's still angry?' asked Sara worriedly.

'I'll melt his head first and we'll explain and if he's still bloodthirsty you can re-freeze him and we can bury him in the yard,' said Em calmly.

Sara looked up at her in shock.

'Just kidding!'

Sara got some paper towels and wiped up the water dripping from Em's hand. When Sesshomaru's whole head and neck were ice-free, Sara's fingers twitched.

'Can I touch his hair now?'

Em smiled indulgently. 'If you must.'

Sara giggled and reached up to Sesshomaru's hair…

'What are you doing?' snapped Sesshomaru.

Sara jumped back and Sesshomaru strained against the ice.

'What sorcery is this?'

'Ours,' said Em haughtily. 'We needed to cool you temper so we can explain to you that _we are not demons_!'

'Then how do you have magic?' sneered Sesshomaru.

'Well, we cast a little spell to let us control the elements,' explained Sara. 'And anyway, if you kill us, you don't get to go back to feudal Japan.'

'You,' said Sesshomaru to Sara. 'Who are you?'

'I'm Sara.'

Sesshomaru looked at her suspiciously.

Sara put her hand up defensively. 'Not Princess Sara, just Sara.'

Sesshomaru looked away from her. 'You look like…'

'The Princess Sara?' asked Sara.

'Hey, maybe you're her reincarnation like thingamabob,' cried Em excitedly. 'That's so mad!'

'Maybe I am,' said Sara with a shy smile.

'I am Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands,' said Sesshomaru.

'Pure demon, son of the most powerful dog-demon there ever was, all that jazz, we know,' said Em. 'I'm Em. So are you going to co-operate or do we bury you in the yard?'

'I give my unbreakable vow that I will not harm you,' said Sesshomaru.

'Cool,' said Em and she continued to defrost him. It took a long time. Sara continued to mop up the water with paper towels.

When he was completely free, Sesshomaru sneezed violently.

Sara grabbed his hand, feeling how clammy it was. 'We need to warm you up!'

'The shower,' suggested Em.

'What?' asked Sesshomaru.

'If you don't get warmed up, you'll get sick,' said Sara.

'I don't get sick,' said Sesshomaru.

'Well, maybe in this world, you do,' snapped Em aggressively.

Sesshomaru allowed the girls to take him into the bathroom but stopped moving when they tried to cram him, clothes, boots and all, into Em's glass box of a shower. 'What is that?'

'It's kind of like a small waterfall with hot water,' explained Em.

Sara was too excited at the prospect of seeing Sesshomaru wet to speak.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Em opened the glass door, shoved Sesshomaru into the shower and tuned the water to hot. 'Make sure he stays in there,' she said to Sara. 'I'll go get some towels.'

Sara smiled and Em exited, closing the door. Sara turned away from Sesshomaru, but still looked at him via the mirror.

'How long must I stay in here?' asked Sesshomaru.

'Until Em says. Um, can you stand for it to be warmer?' asked Sara.

'Yes, I suppose.'

Sara opened the door to the shower and twiddles the handle. She blushed heatedly as she was so near him. Her eyes fell on the shampoo and conditioner bottles on the shower floor. 'D'you want to wash your hair?' she asked.

Sesshomaru looked around. 'With what?'

'Shampoo.'

'Alright. What's shampoo?'

Sara's cheeks glowed brighter as she picked up a bottle of shampoo and poured some into her hand.

Sesshomaru's brow knitted in confusion as he surveyed the gel-like substance.

'It's okay,' said Sara. 'I'll do it.'

Sesshomaru knelt obediently so that Sara could properly wash his hair. Sara leaned into the shower, getting wet herself, and massaged the shampoo into his gorgeous hair. She was shuddering so much with suppressed joy and biting her lip so she wouldn't giggle that she was too distracted to notice that her white school blouse was soaked through thoroughly enough to be see-through.

As Sara put his head back into the spray, Sesshomaru glanced at her and discerned that underneath her shirt, there was something pink.

He was curious about what it was, since, in feudal times, women wore kimonos and robes.

Sara noticed him looking at her pink bra and crossed her arms over her chest. 'Hey!'

Sesshomaru looked away. 'My apologies. I didn't realise.'

'It's okay.' Sara washed the shampoo out of Sesshomaru's hair. 'Close your eyes.' He did so.

Unbidden to Sesshomaru's mind came a memory. A memory of Princess Sara. She was beautiful in her bright gown, smiling and laughing at something he had said. He felt her warm touch again on his hand. He screwed up his eyes against the emotions he felt.

'What's wrong?' asked Sara. 'Did I get soap in your eyes?'

Sesshomaru didn't answer.

'I'm sorry,' Sara said softly. She picked up the conditioner bottle. 'This will get the knots our of your hair.'

Sesshomaru didn't open his eyes but he nodded.

Sara squeezed some of the clear conditioner into her palm and smoothed it into Sesshomaru's silver mane, gently teasing out the knots and straightening the kinks.

Suddenly, Sara heard a high whistling sound in her ears. It exploded into a roar and her sight darkened. Sesshomaru sensed Sara's pause and looked up at her. Her eyes had gone stark white, even her pupils.

An image appeared in Sara's mind, sharp as day: it was Sesshomaru riding a powerful midnight-black war stallion, his silver hair rippling behind him like a flag. Sara herself and Em rode behind him; Sara on a dapple-grey and Em on a white mare. They were cantering across a rolling green meadow.

Then the images were gone. Sara's eyes went back to blue and she gasped as, disoriented by her vision, she lost her balance. She fell into the shower and Sesshomaru caught her. The glass door swung shut with a snick.

'Oooh,' groaned Sara.

Sesshomaru stood up and righted Sara. 'Are you-'

He was interrupted when Em opened the bathroom door. Her eyebrows rose up so far in surprise that they disappeared into her fringe.

'I leave you alone for a second and you're already having a shower with a guy you met an hour ago when he tried to kill you!'

'It's not like that!' cried Sara.

Sesshomaru predicted that this argument would take a while so he washed the conditioner out of his hair.

'And what happened to you?' retaliated Sara. 'Did you get lost on the way to your own linen cupboard?'

'That's nice! I take my time so you can spend a few minutes alone with the man of your dreams and you take a dig at me!' cried Em.

'Well…'

'Sara.'

'What?' asked Sara.

'Get out of the shower.'

Sara reluctantly got out of the glass shower.

'Sesshomaru, you can get out too,' said Em. He got out of the shower and Sara turned the water off. They both stood dripping on the tiled bathroom floor. Em chucked a few towels at them.

'Sara, you'd better come out with me so you can get your pyjamas on,' said Em. 'I'm sure that dear Sesshomaru would like some privacy.'

The girls left and Sesshomaru preceded to dry himself.

Sara got changed in Em's room and explained to Em about her vision. Em waited in the hall.

'You saw the three of us riding horses? Was it in feudal times?' Em asked the door.

'I dunno,' said Sara when she emerged with her sodden uniform under her arm.

The girls went to the bathroom door. Sara knocked.

'Sesshomaru? Are you okay in there?'

'Did you find me anything to wear?' asked the dog demon.

'No, sorry,' said Em. 'Just come out in a towel and we can wrap you in a blanket.'

'I can't do that!' exclaimed Sesshomaru.

'Hey!' shouted Em, still testy after her disastrous day at school. 'You wanna die? If you don't stay warm you'll get sick!'

There was a grumble from inside the bathroom. It sounded like subtle threats.

Em shook her head and went to the cupboard to get a blanket for Sesshomaru. She returned just as he opened the door.

One green towel was wrapped around his waist and he carried the other in his hand. He did not look impressed. He tossed the extra towel uncaringly at Em and grabbed the blanket, swishing it around his shoulders like a cloak.

Sara looked like she had been frozen at the happiest moment of her life. She was still staring at where Sesshomaru's chiselled torso had been exposed. Em poked her in the head.

'Breathe, breathe,' she instructed. 'Why don't you take our guest here into the lounge room and put on a movie?' Em took Sara's wet uniform from her and gave her Sesshomaru's second towel.

Sara lead Sesshomaru into the living room, hatching a plan to steal the towel that he was using after he took it off and have it framed.

Em gathered up his clothes from the bathroom floor and paused at his boots. _Ooh, I love his boots. Maybe he'll lend them to me…_

In the living room, Sara picked up the discarded and container of melted ice cream. 'We wouldn't have finished it anyway,' she explained to Sesshomaru before she put it back in the freezer. 'There's been to much ice tonight.'

Em came into the living room and laid her bundle of clothes out on the floor. 'I'll dry them in a moment,' she explained.

Sara threw Em a towel. They grinned at each other and leapt at Sesshomaru. Since his arms were pinned to his sides by the blanket, Sesshomaru couldn't fight the girls off as they rubbed the water out of his hair.

When his hair was completely dry, Sara took her brush out of her school bag and began to brush it out.

'Do you mind?' Sesshomaru asked irritably.

'No, I don't. In fact, it's my pleasure,' said Sara.

'That's not what I meant.'

Em put a movie on and sat down on the floor near the wet clothes. She channelled the power of fire through her hand and used the heat to dry the clothes. It wasn't all that effective.

When Sara had transformed Sesshomaru's hair into waves of silky smoothness, she put her right hand on Em's shoulder. 'Let's try and join our powers,' she suggested.

Hot air blew from Em's hand, sucking the moisture from the clothes and drying then in less than one minute.

'That is so wicked!' said Em.

Sesshomaru collected his white underclothes, thinking it pure stupidity to put all of is ceremonial robes on, and went into the bathroom to put them on. While he was in there he fluffed up his tail so it didn't look quite so bedraggled.

He returned to the living room and Em and Sara took seats on either side of him.

'Sesshomaru,' began Em.

'Can we style your hair?' finished Sara.

'Style?' asked Sesshomaru.

'Oh, yes, it's really big here,' said Sara.

'Fine.'

Sara and Em grabbed a dozen hair bands and commenced work. The movie was halfway finished when the girls leaned back in their seats and rested their aching fingers. Sesshomaru looked quite similar to a golliwog; the girls had plaited his hair to tightly that it nearly stood up by itself.

'This is big here?' asked Sesshomaru.

'Yeah… It'll make your hair all wavy,' said Em and Sara looked like all her Christmases had come at once.

Sara went to put her now dry uniform in her bag.

'Wait a second,' called Em.

Sara waited.

'Your bed's almost ready,' said Em slyly. 'All you have to do is pump up the air mattress.'

'But that'll take ages!'

'Sara, you have the power of wind.'

Sara blinked. 'Right.' She went into Em's room.

Em folded up the rest of Sesshomaru's clothes. 'I'll go to bed soon,' she said to Sesshomaru. 'Will you sleep tonight or would you rather… do something else?'

'I shall sleep.'

'Okay,' said Em, standing up and handing the clothes to Sesshomaru. 'My mother is out tonight so you can sleep in her bed. Just come with me.'

She led the demon to her mother's room and made the bed quickly. There was an awkward moment where Em stood expectantly and Sesshomaru wondered what she was waiting for.

'Right, then. Uh, you're welcome and call me if you need anything and if you wake up early you can… do whatever,' babbled Em uncertainly. 'Night.'

Em practically ran out of the room and into the bathroom where she picked up the blanket and the towel that Sesshomaru had discarded. She put the blanket back into its cupboard and folded the towel. Then she went into her bedroom.

Sara was already in her bed. 'Did you say anything about me to him?' she asked.

'No,' said Em. 'I'm going to put on my pyjamas, aren't you going to tell Sesshy goodnight?'

Sara bolted out of the room.

Em rolled her eyes and put on her nightclothes.

Sara returned in a daze. 'He wasn't wearing his shirt…'

Em laughed. 'Okay, Miss Obsessed. I have something for you.' Em handed her the towel.

'A towel?'

'Whose towel?' asked Em impishly.

Sara squealed. 'Sesshy's towel!' She flung herself onto her bed and clutched the towel to her face.

Em got into her own bed and hugged her stuffed _Jack _from _Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas_. 'Don't suffocate on it.'

Sara sighed. 'I love his hair.'

'And everything else about him,' supplied Em.

'Yeah. But where will he stay? My grandparents' house is full as it is and, still, they wouldn't let me keep him.'

Em thought a moment. 'If I tell mum that he's been kicked out of home, she'll let him stay.'

'Lucky you.'

Em laughed at her friend's jealously and switched off the light.

'I'm glad you're feeling happier,' said Sara.

Em hugged _Jack _tighter. 'Thankyou for caring so much.'


End file.
